Review

Review – Metroid: Zero Mission (GBA)

After wrapping up the remake of Metroid II with Metroid: Samus Returns, it seemed like a good idea to look back a bit on Metroid Zero Mission, the remake of the original Metroid put out for the Game Boy Advanced.

Previous to Metroid Zero I had just finished Metroid Classic, the GBA remake of the NES game. The best part of the Classics series is that they are pretty true to the original titles. I’ve previously played bits and pieces of Metroid but the sheer massive randomness of this game has always kept me away. Also it’s “really hard”. Or at least I used to think so. For this outing I decided to cop and use a downloaded map to find my way around. It’s surprisingly easy in Metroid to pick up nearly ever power up and accessory before fighting even one boss. This actually makes the bosses a bit of a push over.

Zero Mission changes things up a bit and gives you a built in map akin to the more modern Metroid titles. The trick here is, many of the areas have been altered slightly requiring special items to access the next area. In fact, Metroid Zero is extremely linear in its storyline. Many times in the game you’ll find Chozo statues that will point you in the direction you need to head next.

Metroid was pretty ahead of it’s time with it’s free form game play mechanics. Metroid Zero stream lines this idea by adding modern puzzle limitations. The whole experience is very similar to Metroid 3 for the Super Nintendo. It’s still a bit limited by its controls.

In the original Metroid you could shoot, jump and shoot missiles. You access missiles by pressing select. Zero Missions adds a few more items to the mix from its Metroid 3 predecessor, namely Super Missiles and Power Bombs. This makes things a bit tricky however since the Game Boy Advance doesn’t have the same number of buttons as the SNES control pad. Select still cycles through the missile types but the more powerful attack is activated by pressing and holding the R button. The other shoulder button is used for a fairly useless diagonal shot. I can’t help but some sort of scanning power up would have been a better use for the L button. Especially given the number of hidden blocks and the large variety of ways needed to destroy them.

Zero Mission’s map doesn’t make finding everything easier however. I’d estimate that the overall map is at least twice the size of the original if you count the added on final area. Even without that section there are many additional secret hidden paths to find. Oh right, yeah, I said bonus area. I don’t want to spoil things too much but Zero mission doesn’t have quite the same ending you might remember. The bonus area also uses some different play mechanics than players are used to. Play mechanics leaning the irritatingly difficult side of things unfortunately.

Like I said, I don’t want to ruin it too much. Back to the main game. With Zero Mission’s expanded map there is also an expanded selection of bosses. Technically Ridley and Kraid are still the only true bosses but there are a whole slew of new mini bosses that must be defeated throughout your journey across Zebes. The old bosses also got a major facelift. Kraid is now the massive giant he was in Metroid 3, though he’s a lot more of a pushover this round. Ridley is also larger and more resembles his modern pterodactyl self.

In the original Metroid the bosses were not much larger than Samus and followed a simple attack pattern of “Throw lots of things at the player”. This actually made them a bit more difficult as the battles more or less broke down to pounding your opponent with missiles and hoping he died before you did. Zero Mission has more epic scripted boss battled and neither Ridley nor Kraid really do much damage with their attacks. Truth be told, New Ridley is easier to defeat if you let him pick you up so you can pound on him point blank with your missiles. Zero Mission is all around more forgiving of a game. In Metroid, when your health was depleted you were dead. Sure, you had a password but there was no direct continue or save feature. Also in the original Metroid, refilling your health is difficult to do, usually involving killing many of the little bug creatures popping out of the ground. Also. Zero Mission has health restoring Chozo statues all over. Instantaneous relief.

Finishing the game also unlocks a playable version of the original Metroid. The remake’s modern mechanics however make it a lot less of a chore to play and much more enjoyable

Review – MCU – The Incredible Hulk (2008)

Sep 29th, 2017

by Ramen Junkie.

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Spoiler Free Thoughts and Review

The Incredible Hulk seems to be a really hard hero to get right for movies. He’s had a few of them and even a live action TV series in the 80s. The Incredible Hulk is sort of the redheaded stepchild of the MCU. It came out just after Iron Man. It’s technically sort of part of the MCU, but no one really remembers or cares that it’s part of the MCU. Part of this confusion is the change in actors from the movie and his next appearance in The Avengers. They traded out Edward Norton for Mark Ruffalo. This particular movie also exists in a weird space since it’s technically a sequel to the 2003 Ang Lee film simply called Hulk. The rumors and stories I’ve read are that Norton was kind of a bear to work with on the whole thing and had a hand in altering a lot of the script until it was much less of a sequel and more of a reboot. It doesn’t really directly contradict Ang Lee’s Hulk, but it doesn’t reference it either. This is also part of why they dropped Norton for Ruffalo.

A lot of the problem with Hulk is that the exciting part, IE the big green monster, is boring and hard from a story perspective. He’s not really a hero, he doesn’t really go around saving people really, he just gets mad and rages, and hopefully he’s raging against someone more evil than he is. The part that works for the story, Bruce Banner, is kind of boring from a movie perspective. It’s not super easy to depict “inner turmoil” on screen, which is part of what makes the Hulk and Banner who they are.

This film also is treated by the greater MCU the same way it treats it’s Ang Lee predecessor. It’s not really acknowledge, it’s not really rejected. It does seem to be kind of a goto reference for the TV MCU though. Ironic since the TV MCU is also ignored by the movies. Daredevil and Iron Fist make references to the final battle in Harlem, Agents of SHIELD makes references to Emil Blonsky a few times.

It’s an alright film, but I kind of prefer the Ang Lee vision of Hulk and frankly, I don’t really like Edward Norton as Banner.

Synopsis and Spoilers

The plot starts off with Banner working and hiding in Mexico, working at a soda bottling plant. He’s communicating with Samuel Sterns, a scientist in the states, anonymously working to find a cure for his Hulkness. During an accident, he accidentally cuts himself and some of his blood lands in one of the sodas which ends up giving Gamma Poisoning to poor Stan Lee. This leads the military to Banner’s location. They recruit special forces agent Emil Blonsky to head in and capture Banner. After some Fitbit advertisements where Banner’s heart rate keeps increasing during his escape from the military, he finally Hulks out and battles it out with the soldiers before making his escape.

Jealous of the Hulk’s power, Blonsky gets injected with some experimental super soldier serum to help beef himself up and help him go up against the unstoppable force that is The Hulk. Banner returns to the states to meet up with his old girlfriend Betty Ross, daughter of General Ross, who is leading the military charge against him. Bruce wants to recover the data from the original experiment that transformed him into The Hulk to better help Dr. Sterns find a cure. Unfortunately for Banner, the Military has been alerted to his presence. Hulk rears his raging face again and makes short work of the military forces, including Blonsky, despite his newfound strength. Hulk flees with Betty after The Hulk “kills” Blonsky.

Bruce and Betty finally meet up with Samuel Sterns, who was able to formulate a cure, but possibly a faulty cure. They administer the cure to Banner and afterwards General Ross, Blonsky and the military show up yet again and take Banner into custody. After Ross heads out with Banner, Blonsky forces Dr. Stern to inject him with Banner’s blood. The super soldier serum and the Hulk blood have a negative interaction and Blonsky is transformed into the classic Hulk nemesis, Abomination, who starts rampaging through Harlem. General Ross agrees to let Banner go because the Hulk is the only one who can stop The Abomination. After the two brutes trash out the city, prompting Wilson Fisk to leverage his power to rebuild things in his vision for control (no wait, wrong show), The Abomination is defeated and things come to a close.

Banner is later shown to be living in seclusion again and Tony Stark shows up to talk to General Ross in vague terms about the Avengers.

How it’s Connected

Aside from Robert Downy Jr’s cameo at the end, there’s not a whole lot else that comes up later. There aren’t any references to The Absorbing Man in the first movie, there aren’t any Infinity Stones or much SHIELD even. The events that take place in Harlem are mentioned in the Netflix Defenders shows some, primarily because those shows mostly take place in and around Harlem. Though I find it kind of odd that the major event everyone talks about is Hulk and not, you know, the literal alien invasion and Avengers. The Super Soldier serum theme is here, that of course relates to Captain America, Agent Carter, and a few bits in Agents of SHIELD.

Thoughts on What’s Next

There hasn’t been a straight followup for The Hulk, he shows up again in the later Avengers films and the upcoming Thor Ragnarok, but nothing new in terms of a solo film. There is/was clearly some plan though, during the scene when Samuel Sterns turns Blonsky into the Abomination, he too gets infected by the Hulk Blood and his head starts mutating. In the comics, Samuel Sterns is a smart dude with a big head villain named Leader. Someone was pushing for this angle, though at this point it’s clearly gone nowhere.

Final Notes

The Incredible Hulk is an ok though pretty forgettable part of the greater MCU. It’s not an awful movie, it just sort of, is. Hulk is just sort of a hard guy to really do justice in film.

Review – Transformers – RiD – Scorponok

Sep 28th, 2017

by Ramen Junkie.

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Possibly the last of these fun little animal Decepticons we’re going to see is Scorponok. There’s also a Toys R Us purple colored repaint of this figure called Paralon, who actually really resembles Beast Wars Scoponok, but this review primarily covers the normal brown colored mass released version. Scorponok’s animal motif is, a scorpion.

In fact, he simply IS a scorpion in his alt mode. While the other Decepticons all turn into vehicles with animal like themes in robot and beast mode, Scorponok just turns into robot and a scorpion. Straight out Beast Wars style. He has a really unique style going for him as well, and a very unique Transformation. The scorpion mode gives him some really obvious choices for hands, but Scorponok eschews that with a clever trick.

His scorpion claws slide up his arms to become a pair of huge shoulder pauldrons. No parts forming here, but they are essentially lose pieces at one point. The effect is neat for sure, but the connections tend to be a little lose on the shoulder joint. Given their large size they catch anything passing by and easily leverage out of their joint to become crooked or loose. The end result also means his claws have no real joints in Scorpion mode, which is kind of a lame trade off since Scorpion claws are one of the more versatile and fun joints in scorpion toys. Who doesn’t live a big set of vicious working pincers?

He also has a ton of fun character in his face and overall design. His little face with it’s little robot mustache makes him look pretty interesting. He also has a set of spindly legs that work well despite their small size and his upper body girth. He also completed his sandy sort of Persian motif with a scimitar weapon. The sword can be held in robot and scorpion mode as a giant stinger.

Overall, Scorponok isn’t the coolest Decepticon in the line, but he’s still a fun little toy. He does feel a little small overall, which is probably his biggest downside. The Paralon repaint kind of fits the name Scorponok a bit better, if you are looking at getting only one, but I find the brown color scheme works better for the figure overall.

Review – Transformers – Combiner Wars – Computron (Technobot Giftset)

Sep 14th, 2017

by Ramen Junkie.

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Combiner Wars was definitely an interesting take on the line. The need for every figure to be a robot and a vehicle and an arm or a leg really made for some pretty similar designs across the board. All of the most well known combiners, Superion, Menasor, Bruticus, Defensor, ended up with a release in the main line. Devastator got a massive Titan Class boxed set release as well. One vehicle combiner missing from the mainline was Computron. Instead of individual releases, Computron came available at the tail end of the line as a boxed set only, though he consists of repaints of previously released figures.

The boxed set for Computron consists of 7 figures, 5 forming the core combiner and one Legends class partner, like all of the other releases, who happens to also include another even smaller partner toy of it’s own. Unlike the other 4 known combiners, Computron is a straight update of his normal 5 members, no stand ins like Rook of Alpha Bravo. It’s also worth noting that there was also a Japanese boxed set released around the same time that costs around the same price. There are a lot of different design choices in which molds are used and both sets contain unique new remold versions of Strafe. I do not own the Japanese version but there are pluses and minuses to each design choice and a lot of what it comes down to is a preference of G1 cartoon vs G1 toy aesthetics.

Lightspeed

I want to start with Lightspeed since he’s probably the most boring of all of the figures in this set. Not really so much because of his design, but because he’s a repaint of the Streetwise/Prowl mold which is itself a remold of the Breakdown/Wildrider mold. Basically, this mold has been used a ton throughout this entire line and so it’s starting to feel a little tired. On the plus side, it’s one of the better molds in the line. He has a nice range of pose ability, his transformation is a little more interesting all around and it works well as both an arm and a leg.

The overall shape fits pretty well as an update to G1 Lightspeed as well. The original toy was a bit more orange in color however. This color works pretty well though and homages closer to the cartoon color pallet.

Nosecone

Next up we have Nosecone. Probably the weakest figure in the entire set, primarily due to the choice in base mold. The original Nosecone was a drill tank thing. Rather than take the Takara route of extensively remolding Rook, Hasbro’s Nosecone is simply a repaint of Brawl from the Combaticon set with a new drill bit turret.

A lot of Nosecones flaws are simply due to using the Brawl mold, which is the weakest in the line. He is so close to being pretty good though, at least in robot mode. The waist joint however is very poorly designed, things accordion together to connect the legs to the torso, but the accordion action isn’t quite a solid as it wants to be or should be. He does have a pretty nice paint job in robot mode as well which helps. The paint apps are more designed to homage the original toy than the original cartoon.

Where things fall apart is the vehicle. The intended design is to position the turret out what is the back of the original tank. The problem is this means the bottom of the feel are really obviously exposed in all of their hollow glory. You’re better off just positioning the drill facing forward the way Brawn’s turret sits and calling it a day. It’s mildly less accurate but looks a heck of a lot better.

Strafe

Strafe is kind of the polar opposite of Nosecone and Lightspeed. Where both of those were straight repaints, Strafe is an extensive remold of the Air Raid mold. Where Air Raid turns into an F-14 fighter jet, Strafe has an entirely new front half and a completely different wing assembly on the legs. The only real noticeable bits that are the same are the robot parts and the rear tail fins. As such he shares the same basic transformation that all of the Aerialbots used with the clam-shell leg mechanism and the arms folded to the sides and the nosecone backpack. All of the Aerialbots are solid figures however, which translates into a nice plus for Strafe.

Unlike his Aerialbot counterparts, Strafe’s “funky space ship” alt mode allows him to wear his bulky undercarriage much more well. He isn’t trying to be a sleek jet, so the body bulk and complete lack of aerodynamics become much more excusable.

Afterburner

Afterburner is the pseudo new mold of this set. The motorcycle mold in Combiner Wars showed up originally in Takara’s Defensor set for Groove. There has been rumor and speculation that the US release received Rook in place of Groove because of safety issues involving the clear plastic canopy, due to scale issues of the motorcycle, and possibly just because the mold is a little large for a standard deluxe and this didn’t fit price wise. Eventually Groove did get a limited release in the states through several online retailers. Afterburner however is the most reliable way to get the mold in the US, though Afterburner is also a remold and not just a straight repaint of Groove.

I can see why he might have failed standard safety tests, that window backpack just sort of hangs off of the top of the figure and clear plastic tends to be more brittle than the standard plastic used in most figures. On the other hand, here we are, with a regular mass release version of the mold. The speculation that he’s too large is feasible as well, he is definitely taller and bulkier than most of the Combiner Wars deluxes. The scale issue, at least in Afterburner’s case, kind of falls away however. Groove is a police motorcycle, thus would be much smaller than his fellow Protectobots. Afterburner is a space motorcycle. Who says he isn’t a giant space motorcycle. Especially when all of his friends are giant robots.

Scattorshot

Scattorshot is a repaint of the much more muted color pallet, mass released, Scattorshot who is a remold of the Aerialbot torso, Silverbolt. The mass release version of the figure was very bland and mostly red, and formed the torso for “Beta-tron”. I’m not sure why he ended up with two releases, my only real assumption is they weren’t sure Computron would actually get a release. The boxed set version has a lot more white spots of color and different shades of red, which really helps make the mold look a lot less… beta, in design.

This mold is one of the better torsos in the line, but the individual robot is a little funky looking with it’s huge boots. It does work for Scattorshot though, the original toy also had some kind of funky proportions going on with his body. The funky space wings really help to make him seem different than Silverbolt as well, which is nice.

The vehicle gets a new node piece in the form of a giant cannon, in addition to the previously mentioned space wings. There are enough little greebly bits added to the vehicle to help him stand out even more from Silverbolt. The torso, doesn’t fare quite as well however, as it very much resembles Superion’s torso.

Scrounge and Cybaxx (Boltax)

Because there were little “helper” transformers in the Legends scale for each of the other combiners, Computron also includes a repaint of Generations Cosmos and Payload in the form of Scrounge and Boltax. Both are relatively obscure G1 comic characters, both of which were originally yellow gold colored. The original Scrounge seems to turn into some sort of wheel thing, so Cosmos’ flying saucer works pretty well there. Boltax doesn’t really have an original alt mode, his association here is more on the “smart guy” side of the Technobots theme. He was sort of an omniscient librarian in his original form.

The new head on the Cosmos mold is a nice little touch, it would have been really simple and easy to just make him a repaint. Given that this is an older mold from an older line, the interactivity with the larger Computron is pretty weak. Where Menasor and Defensor got new chest pieces and Superion and Bruticus got guns, Scrounge sort of becomes a shield that loose bolts onto existing pegs and Boltax turns into an undersized targetmaster style gun (just like Payload). Well, undersized for Computron, less so for any of the individual robots.

Computron

So, being apart of Combiner Wars, and the combiner Computron, these figures all merge together to form one giant robot. He’s actually got quite a bit going for him in his combined form, compared to the other combiners in the line. Despite some of the individual flaws, all of these figures are good limbs. Couple this with the Silverbolt/Scattorshot torso and you end up with a pretty solid combined robot.

What also helps make this set is that he also includes a new set of hand/foot pieces. The individual releases all came with various hand/foot bits that could be either a hand or a foot. They were also a bit undersized for the combined robots, especially for the feet. Computron here has two dedicated feet that are much larger than the previous hand/foot gun pieces, and two nicely sculpted left and right fists. The Hand/Foot Guns all were also designed to work as a left or right hand. These pieces really help him look more beefy and properly proportioned in his combined form.

His color scheme is a little hodge podgey, though the tones are all sort of in the same general pallet and there is a lot of colors across the limbs that helps everything feel a bit more blended. He also benefits from the boxed set benefit of budget, because he has a bit more paint apps across the board, which helps make him look really nice.

Overall, Computron is a really great complete package of a combiner. He’s probably my favorite of the 5 combiner sets that I own (Superion, Bruticus, Defensor, Menasor, and Computron). The techno spacey Cybertronian theme of all of the vehicles helps these guys stand out in a sea of Earth modes and help hide some of the bulky-ness flaws of the Combiner Wars line. You also get an entire set instead of having to hunt down individual robots, which makes things a lot easier.

Review – Transformers – RiD – Bisk

Sep 7th, 2017

by Ramen Junkie.

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I have yet to actually watch any of the Transformers Robots in Disguise show, but very early on one of the designs showed off was for a character named Bisk. Everyone hoped Bisk would get a toy but early indicators where we had one Decepticon for a dozen Autobots, it didn’t seem likely. Thankfully things changed and we ended up with our crazy Lobster Man Transformer. He’s even gotten a repaint named Thermidor.

Bisk, has the pleasure of having a Lobster for his animal theme. He definitely takes this theme above and beyond with his lobster head and giant Lobster Claw hands. Even his vehicle mode kibble hanging off of his back works since it sort of looks like a lobster shell. I can fully understand how this zany looking robot would not work for some people, he certainly stands out with other Transformers, especially non RiD Decepticons, but he certainly has a ton of character from this look.

This character even goes a bit deeper than expected with his Vehicle Mode. Transformers Robots In Disguise is a sort of sequel to the previous series, Transformers Prime. It shares a general design ascetic and the plot is a sort of follow up to the previous series, though the tone of these two shows is quite different. Bisk’s vehicle very much resembles the Vehicon Drones that were ever present in Transformers Prime. He’s not an exact match but the overall shape is there. His guns even mount on the front headlights the way the old Vehicon guns do.

His guns also work in robot mode via the same pegs, mounting on top of his lobster claws. The claws are particularly interesting, the arm joints aren’t quite traditional joints for up and down and rotation, but there are essentially two different elbow joins next to each other, which allows for his claws to work both in a vertical and horizontal orientation. It really helps add to the range of poses he can make using his big ol’ claws.

Overall, though the aesthetic won’t work for everyone, Bisk is a pretty fantastic addition to the Robots in Disguise line up. He looks nice in both modes, the Transformation is pretty straight forward and he just oozes character. He’s nicely poseable too, which is always a good feature.